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Old 20-09-2011, 05:03 AM posted to alt.home.lawn.garden
GuvBob GuvBob is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Sep 2011
Posts: 9
Default planting on a bank

"GuvBob" wrote in message ...
"Herb Eneva" wrote in message ...
I need help about what to do on my steep bank.
It is 50 ft long, 25 ft high and about a 22 degree slope.. Right now it
is covered with weeds and grass and is a real pain to mow. I
was thinking of laying down landscape cloth and covering that with
rip-rap (big rocks) Any and all advice appreciated
Herb


I've got exactly this size and slope hill, and it's been covered with red apple icy plant for 15+ years and hardly any maintenance, water & fertilizer used. I'm definitely not a careful gardener and it grows and grows. Only problem is occasional grassy weeds in the spring where it's not yet covered up the ground. Once it gets established it spread out well and the usual weeds don't come up except from seeds. We get 10 inches of rain a year (or less lately) in S Calif, so I spray some water up there and sometimes liquid fertilzers where there's no shade if they start looking puny, but not more than once or twice a year. Grows over everything like kudzu but doesn't climb the trees. I had some bare spots and learned that it's fairly expensive in the garden shops for flats. But you can just stick a trimming in the ground and it will take off. The ground is hard dry clay here, so I take a drill with a 3/4-inch bit for wood and drill about 5-inch deep, drop a cutting in it and fill with decent dirt. Watered until they took hold. Pretty red flowers (or yellow sometimes -- can't figure that one out) in the spring & summer. Green year round.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ordifolia1.jpg

Guv Bob

--- PS -- I should have said....... used a drill bit for cement. Wood bit might work in softer soil but not here.